Alwaght- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is visiting China in what is his first trip outside his country since 2011, unconfirmed reports indicate.
Witnesses have reported heavy police presence was noted at the border of China and North Korea, and at a Beijing hotel popular with foreign dignitaries.
Japanese Kyodo news agency reported on Monday that a high-ranking Pyongyang official appeared to have arrived by train in Beijing.
Kyodo, citing sources close to the matter, said the visit of the official was intended to improve ties between Beijing and Pyongyang that have been dampened by North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and China’s backing of tough sanctions against North Korea at the United Nations Security Council.
Footage from Nippon News Network, owned by Nippon TV, showed what an announcer described as a green train carriage with yellow horizontal lines, part of a 21-car train, similar to the kind that Kim’s late father, Kim Jong Il, rode when he visited Beijing in 2011.
Beijing has traditionally been the closest ally of North Korea. But Kim is due to hold summit meetings separately with South Korea and the United States.
A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said she was not aware of the situation and had no further comment. North Korea's state-run media had no reports of a delegation travelling to China
Meanwhile, North Korea has called on the US to understand its position and adopt a “serious attitude” in order to maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Ri Jong-hyok, deputy head of the Supreme People’s Assembly, said on Monday that his country sought to build a “just and peaceful new world, free from aggression and war.” The official, who also heads North Korea’s National Reunification Institute, added that nothing could block the goal of inter-Korean dialogue and reunification. Nothing could block the goal of inter-Korean dialogue and reunification, he told the general assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva. North Korea’s efforts to improve bilateral ties with South Korea now enjoyed a “broad spectrum of support” internationally, he said.
“Now is the high time to put an end to the US anachronistic anti-DPRK hostile policy and its futile moves of sanctions and pressure,” Ri said, referring to his country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
